“Thank you for bringing him over today, Camila,” Richard said, his voice quiet and steady.

“It meant a lot to me to spend two hours with my grandson,” Richard added.

“He’ll be back on the second Sunday of next month for his next scheduled visit,” I told him.

“I’ll have the wooden blocks clean and ready in the bucket,” Richard said, nodding once.

On the porch above us, Linda stayed still on the glider, watching us without moving a muscle.

She didn’t stand up, she didn’t call Ethan’s name, and she didn’t ask about the next visit.